Breach of Overconfidence
by Fanatic97
Summary: Spurned by recent failures Optimus tries to have his team think with their heads not their fists, and an old adversary makes his move to restart the war.
1. Chapter 1

**We're back with the Transformers Animated stories. I'm hoping to fix a few mistakes from the last two stories. Either way, I hope you all enjoy!**

 **Transformers Animated is owned by Hasbro/Takara, I own nothing.**

 **If you have anything to say about the story, please leave a review**

* * *

"Remind me again why we're out here?" Bumblebee shivered. Bulkhead sighed as he stopped his work.

"I told you, we're checking to make sure that space bridge wasn't damaged by the blizzard."

"Well it'd help if you learned some better pen bot ship." Ratchet said, shoving Bulkhead's notes in his face.

"You try writing with these things!" Bulkhead snapped his claws together.

A freezing wind blew across the top of the tower. Ratchet and Bulkhead were too busy arguing to notice it. However Bumblebee was left feeling the full sting.

"Brrr; can you guys stop arguing and get a move on?"

"Checking a space bridge for damage isn't just as simple as looking at it." Bulkhead sternly scoffed.

"It takes time to make sure that all the parts are-"

"Alright I get it, just keep doing you're thing!" Bumblebee threw his arms up with a sigh.

Ratchet couldn't help but chuckle. The kid had brought his boredom on himself. The weather had calmed, but Optimus didn't want the bots out on the roads unless it was necessary.

Bumblebee jumped at any excuse to go and see Sari. Which is why he decided to help "guard" Ratchet and Bulkhead?

Despite what he thought, Ratchet held him too it. So now Bumblebee was freezing his tailpipe off.

A reprieve came in the form of the Sumdac family. The two of them rose up on the service elevator.

Professor Sumdac was bundled up the nines. Sari had on a long sleeved sweater, scarf, skirt, stockings and boots.

"Hi guys, I brought you some hot oil." Sari said in a song-song voice.

The Autobots all turned, Bumblebee breathing a sigh of relief. At long last he had something to do. He ran over to the cart as Ratchet and Bulkhead grabbed their barrels.

"Oh yeah," Bulkhead said as he took a sip. "This hits the spot."

"Good work kid." Ratchet said simply.  
"This stuff is perfect, how did you make this?" Bee asked before he happily guzzled his down. Sari giggled before she held up her hands. She then pushed them into the side of Bumblebee's leg.

Bee let out a yelp and then jumped heat rushing through his leg.

"I'm totally getting the hang of these new powers." She said happily.  
Professor Sumdac too interest in a different matter as he walked over to the space bridge.

"Is everything alright with the space bridge Bulkhead?"

"So far so good prof!" Bulkhead said happily. "Just checking to make sure that the weather didn't damage it."

"Well, it looks like the construction and technology is holding." Ratchet said while closing a panel. He picked up his barrel and some of his tools.

"In my, humble opinion, the bridge is safe." He said.

"Yeah, I don't see any ice damage either." Bulkhead said happily.

"Does that mean we can head inside soon?" Asked Bumblebee. Despite the hot oil and Sari's joke, he was still cold.

"Just as soon as I enter the codes." Bulkhead began to run his digits along the control keys.

"What do you need a code for?" Bumblebee slid open, peeking over Bulkhead's shoulder.

"Do you really think that I'm just going to let anybody use the space bridge?" Bulkhead pushed Bumblebee back with his arms.

"The codes keep the space bridge locked until me, Sumdac, or Prime unlocks it."

Bumblebee stepped backward and looked at Bulkhead in annoyance. Sari couldn't help but laugh and then grinned sheepishly when Bee turned the look onto her.

"I like the idea kid, but I think we ought to have more than just a password." Ratchet said.

"No one can figure out my passwords doc-bot." Bulkhead said as he entered the final keys.

"Can you?" Bumblebee asked.

"Don't worry Ratchet; the space bridge has got me here to guard it!" Sari said, pointing to herself.

Ratchet and Prof Sumdac looked at each other. Prof Sumdac chuckled, while Ratchet rolled his optics.

"I meant a guard at all times kid, unless you want to sit up here all day-"

"On second thought, I think I'm good!" Sari said, then she grabbed Bumblebee's arm.

"Come on Bee, I want a rematch on Ninja Gladiator."As the two walked inside Ratchet couldn't help but chuckle to himself.

"Well, that's one way to keep her and bee in line." Bulkhead said.

"Ratchet," Professor Sumdac looked at the medic. ", I was planning to speak to Optimus Prime on the idea of a guard..."

"With the increased Decepticon activity, I worry about the safety of my daughter and employees."

Sumdac looked longingly up at the tower. He'd been shaky on the idea because of the possibility for Decepticon attacks. But the Autobots had done so much for his family. He couldn't bear the thought of saying "no"

Ratchet lowered himself to his knees and then offered his hand to Sumdac. The Professor got into his hand and he stood up.

"I think we should save this talk for Prime." Ratchet said.

"You can talk to prime." Bulkhead said as they walked toward the elevator. "But I'm telling you, no one has ever cracked my password."

After they had left, all was quiet...but not for long. A small bird like shape landed on the controls to the space bridge. It quickly tapped its beak on the controls, copying Bulkhead's every move.

Within seconds it had unlocked the space bridge's password. The bird let out a screech of triumph and then flew away.

 **Autobot Base.**

"I agree with you both on more than just the space bridge issue." Optimus said to Sumdac and Ratchet.

"Have either of you noticed that we seem to be...over confident lately?"

Ratchet crossed his arms and thought on the question.

"To tell you the truth kid; yes, given that you've all been returning with more dents than usual."

"My point exactly, we've been charging into fights without thinking first anymore." Optimus said.

"Well, you all did take down Megatron." Sumdac shrugged his shoulders.

"But that victory came at a cost, the fame's gone to our heads even if we don't want to admit it."

Optimus thought back on recent events. Nightstrike could be considered minor given that he'd been attacking from the shadows.

But he couldn't excuse Scoop and Hightower escaping. Also his own defeat at the hands of Gunbarrel under two weeks ago.

Sure they had defeated Megatron. But Detroit had been ravaged, and they had lost Prowl as well.

"We need to start treating fights seriously again." He looked at Ratchet solemnly.

"I don't think it'll be as simple as telling the others to "stop being over confident." Ratchet shook his head.

"I know, it's not going to be easy, but I have to try something." Optimus sighed. He looked at Sumdac's nervous face and then turned on his com link.

"Jazz are you there?"

 _"I hear you loud and clear boss bot, what's up?"_

"I'm assigning guard duties at the space bridge; can you take the first watch?"

 _"Can do, been wondering when you would do that."_

Optimus's face fell for a moment. Had he been ignoring something this serious for a while?

"Thank you Jazz, good luck." Optimus closed his channel and looked down. It dawned on him that he too seemed to be suffering from overconfidence.

"Something wrong Prime?" Ratchet asked.

"I'm fine Ratchet; I just need to think for a while." He said and then walked out of the room. Sumdac watched him go before hopping into Ratchet's hand.

"Do you think he'll be alright?" He asked.

"The kid's just stressed; he's worried that cons might start jumping from the shadows."

They walked back towards the entrance of the base. Unaware they were being watched by the same bird from before. This time it had been hiding by a window.

A camera closed back into its forehead as it took off. Letting out a screech, it soared off toward old Detroit.

Back toward its master, and the next part of the plan.

* * *

 **I noticed that in both Misguided Faith and Embers in the Snow that the Autobots were a bit too eager to leap into fights blindly then in the show..at least in my opinion. Heres hoping to fix that! Wish me luck.**

 **If you have anything to say about the story, please leave a review**


	2. Chapter 2

**This story has been graciously edited by the Writer of** ** _The Allspark Changed my Life,_** **Rowena Bensel. Go and check out her work.**

 **Another** **chapter, let's see what'll happen next!**

 **I do not own Transformers Animated, that's owned by Hasbro/Takara.**

 **I hate to beg guys but I'd really appreciate having a review on my work. If you liked it, if you didn't just don't spam and don't flame.**

* * *

The next day came in bright for Detroit. Though for the leader of Team Earth, it came very slowly.

Optimus had spent the night worrying, and planning. His team had been showing an alarming burst of overconfidence lately, bordering on arrogance at times, and he feared it would lead to disaster. Unfortunately, he'd found roadblocks at every turn.

Optimus stumbled into the main room as did Ratchet, hearing that Optimus was awake. He looked him over for a moment before speaking. .

"Rough night, kid?"

"I just can't figure out what to say, Ratchet." Optimus sighed. "I want us to think with our heads, not with our fists."

"That's the problem with fighting, sometimes you don't know when to stop." Ratchet shook his head sadly.

Optimus sighed once again. He was proud of his team, very proud of what they had become. He couldn't tell if it was overconfidence on their part, or luck on their enemies part recently. They barely made plans anymore, instead rushing straight into fights. When a plan was made it was very haphazard and not well thought out. The electrical charges given by the power lines had taken days to go away.

"I just don't know what to do, Ratchet."

"Sometimes, kid, all they need is a humbling experience." Ratchet patted Prime on the shoulder. "Just don't try to force one on them," he half snapped before going back to his lab.

"Yeah, but where am I going to find one of those?" Optimus mumbled as Ratchet walked away.

The door to the plant open as Jazz rolled in. He transformed and walked over to Optimus.

"How was watch duty, Jazz?"

"Chill, very chill." Jazz said. "No sign of any Con activity though, the only thing I had to worry about was runnin' outta antifreeze!"

Jazz laughed and then noticed Optimus's downcast expression.

"Something wrong OP?"

"No Jazz, I'm just thinking on recent events." Optimus said, staring off into space.

"Sometimes Bots get away OP, we just have to try harder to catch them." Jazz said reassuringly.

Optimus smiled slightly at those words.

"Thanks Jazz, right now I just feel like we're-"

"Thinking with our fists instead of our heads?" Jazz offered. Optimus's optics went wide in surprise.

"How did you know-"

"I can tell that you're still stinging from that beat down at the facility. That wasn't your fault, OP, you gotta let that one go."

Optimus looked down with a sigh. That was all the confirmation that Jazz needed.

"You're a good leader OP, don't let those defeats bother you too much." Jazz said, before going to his room for a recharge.

Optimus watched him go with a sigh.

Easy for you to say Jazz, you're not the leader.

Sumdac Systems Police Drone Plant.

While it had taken a while for the plant to recover from the incident with the Allspark shard, it had sprung back with several new policies in play.

In order to make sure that another accident couldn't happen, Sumdac had the formerly automated station manned by a small staff. If the drones went haywire again, the staff were supposed to shut down the entire factory. This method seemed to have kept further problems at bay. For a short while, at least.

The factory staff didn't pay much notice to the blue van that had just driven past. Unless it entered the factory, then it wasn't their problem.

The van however, was intent on being their problem.

It pulled up just behind the loading dock, watching for any signs of human activity. When there were none, the van's roof slid open. The bird bot that had spied on the Autobots last night flew out and soared into the facility. The van pulled out of sight and waited for the bird to return.

The bird flew towards the controls then perched on a nearby railing. It looked around, waiting for several of the staff to pass by, before it took off again. It landed near the main control station. It alighted directly on the machine and then it screeched at it. Unlike its previous vocalizations, this one stretched out longer. As the screech continued, the controls began to spark. It soon stopped, then took to the air as the staff raced over.

"Did you guys hear that?"

"What the heck could have made that noise?"

"Did a bird get in here?"

The staff split up into pairs to see if they could find the source of the noise. The workers passed by the controls without noticing anything wrong with them.

If the bird could have smiled, it would have. The hack had already dug deep into the systems. By the time anyone figured out what was going on, they would be at the next phase.

It flew back to the van and then landed within.

The van drove off as the workers called off the search for the source of the noise, deciding that it must have been a bird that had gotten in and escaped. The workers returned to their stations, unaware of what had truly transpired.

By the time they figured out something was wrong, it was already too late.

"Autobots, we've got a situation!" Optimus shouted.

The team came pouring out of their rooms as soon as he'd finished. Jazz, Arcee, and Ratchet had responded immediately. Bulkhead lumbered out of his room, some paint splotches on his body. The last to emerge were a slightly annoyed Sari and Bumblebee.

"This had better be serious, we were doing something important!" Bumblebee said.

"Did that something important involve each other's lips?" Jazz smirked and crossed his arms. The two looked away and blushed.

Optimus frowned. This was the kind of behavior he was hoping to break his team from.

"We just got a call from Professor Sumdac; it seems that his plant went haywire… again."

"No way!" Sari exclaimed. "Daddy put in a ton of features to keep that from happening again!"

"Again?" Arcee asked Ratchet who facepalmed with a sigh.

"Another time Arcee, another time."

"Whatever's going on, we can't just let the drones get out and trash the city," Optimus said. He then gave the command that the whole team was familiar with. "Autobots transform and roll out!"

Within a minute, all the Autobots had transformed and were rolling. Sari sat inside Bumblebee and looked out the window.

"So..excited for your first mission with your new powers?" he asked.

"Yes but this shouldn't be happening again," she said.

"Hey it's not big deal. We go in, smash the thing causing the malfunction, and then go home!"

As they approached the plant however it became clear it wouldn't be that simple. The drones weren't just running amok this time. A blockade had been formed that blocked the way to the factory. The Police drones all stood at attention as the Autobots drew near.

"They don't remember who smashed up their buddies do they?" asked Bulkhead.

"Firing on targets!" One of the drone ordered.

Bursts of fire came from their weapons. The shots struck the ground and the surprised Autobots. Armor plating dented and their windshield's cracked.

"Okay, they were definitely not this organized before," commented Jazz.

"Everyone find some cover!" Optimus ordered.

The teams split off and drove for the nearest objects to hide behind. Bumblebee and Ratchet took refuge behind some container. Jazz and Bulkhead got behind a shipment of pipes. Optimus and Arcee ducked behind a large tractor trailer.

Bumblebee and Sari peeked over the containers and watched as the drones stopped firing. This didn't stop more and more from rolling out of the factory though.

"Does anyone have a plan?" Jazz called out to no one in particular.

"I say that we just smash them like last time; they can't be that tough." Bumblebee shouted.

Optimus peeked up as well, watching the drones in silence. A single or a few drones alone couldn't do much damage. But this was a whole army of them; and they were organized this time.

"We need to focus on shutting the plant down first," he said. "If we just smash the drones then the factory will just make more of them."

"What if we blocked off the factory entrance and then took out the drones?" asked Bulkhead.

"Hey, now there's an idea!" Bumblebee said.

"What would you even block the factory with?" Ratchet snapped.

"That's what Bulkhead's for. Come on, Bulk, let's move!" Bee said. Before anyone else could object they were off.

"Bumblebee, wait!" Optimus called out.

His words fell on deaf audios as Bumblebee and Bulkhead charged. While Bee blasted at the drones with his stingers, Bulkhead found the biggest thing he could grab.

"Eat electricity!" Bumblebee shouted.

His battle grade stingers blasted through the drones like a hot knife through butter. He ran and ducked behind another stack of crates as more drones began firing on him.

Bulkhead picked up the largest container he could find and hurled it at the entryway. More drones rushed to replace the ones that Bumblebee destroyed, only to be destroyed themselves. The container knocked down a bit of the building, sealing it off.

"Score one for the home team!" Bumblebee cheered and then ducked as the drones shot at him.

The other Autobots stared in disbelief at what just happened.

"Well, that's one way of doing it." Ratchet said.

"That wasn't what I had planned." Optimus sighed. "We need to shut down the assembly line."

Fragments of drones flew overhead as Bulkhead smacked a couple with his wrecking ball.

"Hey, guys, a little help over here?" he called.

Optimus looked up and spotted Bumblebee and Bulkhead still fighting the drones. A part of him wanted to just let the two go. It was their own fault for attacking. But the rest of him refused to let them get hurt.

"Autobots, take out the drones, then we'll decide our next move." He ordered.

That was all Sari needed to hear. In a burst of flame, she was off like a rocket. The rest of the team jumped and ran towards the fight.

Sari threw a burst of fire that swept over the drones. A couple of them melted, some paint flaked off, and at least two of them exploded.

A pair of them opened fire on Arcee, Arcee threw a blade at the one farthest away and impaled it. She then slashed the other one and jumped off it. She grabbed her other blade and cut the drone it was in cleanly in half before landing.

"Impressive...for a teacher." Ratchet said with a wry smile.

"These days I do more than teach." Arcee winked

Ratchet used his magnets to lift a container and then drop it on a line of drones. As soon as the drones had all been crushed, he used it again as a battering ram on some that were sneaking up on Sari. She jumped as the shockwave from the drones rushed past her. Her wings flew upward in surprise as she looked back.

"Thanks for the save, Doc Bot!" She called.

Bulkhead mashed his wrecking ball into another drone, unaware of the drones sneaking on him from behind. Before they could blast him, Jazz swooped and and destroyed them.

"Keep an optic on all your surroundings, Bulk!" He called.

"Sorry," Bulkhead said while taking out another line of drones.

The Autobots all did their part and smashed every drone in sight. The block on the entrance seemed to be holding.

"I cannot believe that actually worked," grumbled Ratchet as he crumpled up two drones.

"All it did was delay the problem!" Optimus said.

Within a minute he was proven correct as the blockade exploded. Ratchet threw himself in front of Sari to block her from shrapnel. The drones come roaring out of the factory at breakneck speed. There were now more than ever and they all had their sites on the Autobots. Laserfire exploded all over the dockyard and their bodies, forcing them to jump behind cover once more. This time the drones didn't let up and kept blasting at the Autobots cover.

"So much for that idea!" Jazz shouted.

"We need to shut down the whole system in there." Optimus said.

"How do you expect us to get in there?" Bumblebee asked.

Optimus looked at the line of drones and then at the factory itself. The drones had the entire front of the factory blocked off. His optics traveled toward the back and he noticed that no drones were coming from the back entrance.

"We need to get someone in through the back. There is a back entrance right?" Optimus asked Sari.

"It's a factory, so it's got to have a loading dock." Sari rolled her optics.

"Our only problem is how we're going to get past the drones…." Optimus poked his head around but was forced to duck. He looked ahead and then saw the calm water of Lake Erie. An idea sprang into his mind and he looked at Sari and Ratchet.

"How do the two of you feel about a swim?"

Ratchet and Sari looked at Optimus like he'd gone crazy. They looked at each other and then back at Optimus.

"What?" They asked in unison.

It hadn't taken long for the plan to come together. As Ratchet transformed, Bumblebee and Optimus sprang up and blasted the drones with water and electricity. A few of them malfunctioned and were destroyed. The rest of them kept slamming the Autobots with firepower. So focused were they that they didn't notice Ratchet driving into the water.

The Autobots all ducked back down behind their covers.

"You'd think they'd try to circle or flank us." Jazz commented.

"Don't give them any ideas!" Shouted Bumblebee.

"That won't be a problem, they seem to just want to keep us out of the factory," Arcee noticed. "Something big must be going on in there."

"Let's hope that Sari and Doc-bot are able to break it up." Bumblebee ducked as part of his cover exploded.

Across the docks, Ratchet drove from the water and back into the quayside. Sari sat in his passenger seat and looked at the battle. An irresistible urge overcame her briefly. The others were in trouble and here she was sneaking around back. She was worried for them all.

"Kid, if you want yo help them we gotta get inside." Ratchet said. He'd recognized Sari's far off stare.

"Sorry Ratchet. I just feel like we're abandoning them."

Ratchet knew that feeling from back during the war. He'd felt it a lot and it pained him to see know that Sari was now feeling it too. "We're helping them by doing this now, which way to the loading dock?"

Sari pointed out directions to Ratchet, keeping them away from the sight of the drones. They soon pulled behind the building and toward the loading dock. Ratchet transformed as Sari leapt onto the loading area.

"That's funny," Ratchet looked around quickly. "You'd think they would guard the back."

"Maybe they're just really dumb?" Shrugged Sari.

"Something's fishy I know that much… and do not say it's because we're by the lake!"

Sari grumbled a little as they made their way inside the plant. They could already hear the sounds of machinery running beyond its normal limits. They made their way along the assembly line, watching as the drones were built at a rapid and almost haphazard pace.

Sari ran over to one of the control panels and then began fiddling with it. Despite her best efforts the controls were useless. She placed her hands on the panel and began trying "read" it. She stopped and then shook her head.

"Whatever's going on here has cut out these stations," she said.

"So what do we do?" asked Ratchet.

"We get to the main computer and shut it down," explained Sari.

She began to run down the path. Ratchet hesitated and was about to tell Sari not run off but paused. Sari probably knew the place better than he did. He sighed and took off running after her. Before long Sari turned sharply and ran across the assembly line.

"The main computers over here Ratchet!" She waved him over. Carefully he made his way over the assembly line and crouched down into the room Sari had run into. Within was a massive array of computers with a large keyboard and monitor at the far corner. Sari sprinted over to it and began to type once more.

"Any idea as to what's going on?" Ratchet tried to get in closer but the room was smaller than he was. He had to crouch down and get on a knee to see the screen.

"It looks like someone went into the system and took over whole operation," Sari said, her fingers shifted while working. "I think it's possible for me to reverse the whole-"

Ratchet cried out and fell forward, almost crushing Sari in the process. She'd managed to jump aside before the impact. She gasped while overlooking the blast marks in his back.

"The techno organic must be destroyed."

Her head snapped to attention as the drones rolled into the room.

"The techno organic must be destroyed."

The words ran around in Sari's head like a hamster on a wheel. Momentarily she was taken back two christmas's ago. A time when she'd felt the whole world had turned against her.

The techno organic must be destroyed."

A blast hit Sari in the chest and tossed her into the computer. She'd been stunned as she struggled to move. The pain racked through her system which prevented her from getting up. She gazed up toward the drones as they approached. Once more, they droned their command.

"The techno organic must be destroyed."


	3. Chapter 3

**Transformers is owned by Hasbro/Takara, I own nothing but the plot.**

 **Today's chapter is another doozy long one folks! Once again edited by Rowan, go check out her work, and if you can maybe drop a review here..,maybe..please ^^:**

"The techno organic must be destroyed."

Luckily for Sari, the drones were prevented from destroying her by means of Ratchet's fist. He clobbered the lead drone and smashed it to bits. He quickly used his magnets and smashed both drones into the ceiling. He struggled to get up and face Sari.

"How are you doing kid?" He gasped out.

"I've been better but you sound worse," Sari said. "I need to speak to Daddy about this."

"Under normal circumstances, those drones can't hurt us unless they're attacking in numbers," Ratchet observed. "Whoever's doing this must have altered their weapons." He stooped down, grabbing one of the drones lasers.

"Worry about that later and help me shut all this down!" Sari gestured to the malfunctioning computers.

Ratchet set down the laser, then walked over to Sari. The drones attack had fractured both the screen and keyboard. It wouldn't be too difficult to get the replaced but in the scope of time they had; the damage was a death sentence to their friends.

"Now what do we do?" Sari's wings drooped along with her body.

Ratchet peered closely at everything around him. An idea sprang into his mind and he looked toward Sari.

"I've got an idea," he said whilst activating his EMP generator. Sari slapped her forward and rolled her eyes.

"You had that thing the whole time? Why didn't you use it?"

"Because doing so will shut this whole system down for a very long time!" He explained. Sari's optics went wide.

"We could find another way but the others might be overwhelmed by then."

"As it stands our only other option is to smash everything and that's the same as this plan." He said while gesturing to his EMP.

It'd taken a while for the plant to get operational after Powell took over. She had no doubt her father wouldn't be pleased if they did this. Sari thought through all the options available. Despite analyzing everything there was no way she could save both the plant and the others. She thought back to what Optimus had said after her upgrade. Optimus may have hoped that this type of decision would come in the far future, but that future had come now.

"Do it Ratchet. I'll explain to Daddy what happened." She looked down. Ratchet gently patted Sari's back.

He aimed toward the console and fired a beam toward it. The lights in the plant began to flicker and short circuit. The assembly line screeched to a halt as the whole facility powered down.

Outside the plant, the drones all powered down and then collapsed. The Autobots peeked out from behind their covers and stared at the masses of metal.

"So… we win right?" Asked Bumblebee.

The others ignored him as Sari and Ratchet walked out the plant. The two of them still nursing the major blows to their systems.

"Ratchet!" Arcee called.

"Sari!" Bumblebee yelled.

The group raced past the wreckage and toward their friends. Bumblebee placed his arms out so Sari could climb onto his hands. She stumbled and almost fell as she did. Bee scooped her up while she sat down.

"Are you okay?" Bumblebee asked shakily.

"She's not looking too good." Bulkhead commented.

"I'll be fine guys, are the rest of you okay?" she asked whilst hugging herself.

"Aside from a few burnt egos, yeah." Bumblebee whispered.

Ratchet sat down on a crate and tried to steady himself. The use of the EMP strained his already taxed systems.

"That was a sweet play doc-bot." Jazz said and looked toward Optimus. "Course he wasn't the one who made the call."

Optimus looked towards Jazz, and smiled slightly. Even though, they'd won Sari and Ratchet were still hurt. A couple of other thoughts raced through his mind as well.

"Were you able to figure out what caused all of this?" Optimus asked.

"Sari tried to work that out but the drones blasted the computer before we could," Ratchet said.

"You too, by the looks of it," Arcee said, looking over Ratchet's back. His back had several black scorch marks and some circuitry was exposed. Arcee hadn't seen weapons capable of this on any organic planet.

"Someone got into the system and reprogramed everything." Ratchet said. The rest of the team walked over to to them. "Rewired the drones programming to attack us and overcharged their weapons."

"So you're saying this was supposed to be a trap?" Bulkhead queried.

"I can't say for sure, but that's how it looks," Ratchet answered.

"At least we've all made it out online, once we're all patched up we can track this guy down," Optimus stated.

Sari looked over the carnage and sighed. "At least you don't have to explain all this to Daddy."

Upon saying those words, Optimus's com link started to go off frantically. He turned it on and Prof. Sumdacs frantic voice came out.

"Optimus Prime, do you read me? Come in please!"

"Speak of the devil." Bumblebee mumbled and earned himself a half hearted kick from Sari.

"What's the trouble professor?" Optimus questioned.

"Well I was getting my lunch, which Sari has been getting on me about forgetting but I-"

"Professor...you're rambling,again."

"Oh my apologies, anyway I spotted what I think was this giant metal bird flying outside!"

The Autobots all blinked and then looked at each other. Bumblebee glanced toward Sari who just gave a shrug and a thoughtful look.

"Repeat that again?" Asked Optimus.

"A metal bird that looked like it was made from a guitar!"

"No!" Bulkhead gasped.

Optimus snapped into full leader mode before Sumdac finished his sentence. "Professor Sumdac you need to put the building under lockdown!"

"Why do you know what that bird is?"

There was no hesitation on Sari's part to turn on her com link. "Daddy that bird belongs to Soundwave!"

"WHAT!?" Sumdac's voice exploded over the coms.

"We'll be on our way shortly just keep yourself safe." Optimus finished.

"I'm going to turn on the tower's defenses right now!"

"We'll be there shortly," Optimus said and then turned off the com channel.

"Sorry if I was supposed to be in the know, but who's Soundwave?" Jazz inquired

"It's a long and...interesting story." Bulkhead said.

"There's never a short story is there?" Arcee asked whilst smirking. Any banter that the Autobots might have engaged in was cut off by an irate Sari.

"Could we maybe get a move on so that way my dad's not hurt by Soundwave!?" she shouted. Everyone turned and gave her a shocked look. Bumblebee had a look of sympathy and tired rubbing her back a little.

"As… blusterous as Sari's statement was, she's right," he said in a serious tone. "We have to put a stop to whatever Soundwave's up too."

"Do you think this whole situation might have been a distraction?" Arcee asked.

"I wouldn't be surprised; Transform and Roll out!" Optimus ordered.

The Autobots transformed and rolled away from the factory. Normally they would have stayed to help clean up the mess. Under these circumstances though time was of the essence.

As the others tried to get Jazz and Arcee up to speed, Sari clutched Bumblebee's seats. A hundred thoughts raced through her head. She began to think about what her father had said. Laserbeak was seen outside the tower so that could mean that Soundwave wasn't in yet. At least she hoped that was the case. She spent the entire time hoping and silently praying that her father would be alright.

Sumdac Tower.

Sumdac glanced out the window as he hung up the phone. A mixture of fear welled up in his chest at the mention of Soundwave. Fear because of the possibility of a Decepticon within his tower. The anger stemmed from when Soundwave had attacked during Christmas the year before.

In an attempt to stop Sari, Soundwave had made him attack her. Despite Sari's insistence that it was mind control he felt awful about it.

Soundwave wasn't going to even look at Sari again, not if he could help it.

His thoughts were interrupted as Laserbeak flew toward the window. The screech that ranged out snapped Sumdac to attention. He dove to the floor as Laserbeak flew into the window. Much to the surprise of Laserbeak, it had no effect.

He screeched again before trying to tear the window open. Sumdac couldn't help but grin at Laserbeak struggle.

"I reinforced these windows months ago, not even Megatron himself could break them!" He said bravely. However another screech drained said bravery almost instantly. "Okay maybe it will keep out Optimus Prime if he accidentally hits it."

Sumdac spared no time in running after that. Leaving a stewing Laserbeak in his wake. He knew that it was a bad idea to mock Decepticons but he couldn't help himself. It felt a bit good to snap at the things that had been tormenting his family for so long. He attempted to compose himself whilst running to his office. Right now wasn't the time for taunts, it was a time for action.

Soon he'd reached his doors to his office. While stopping to catch his breath he was alerted to a loud noise.

Outside Laserbeak was trying to tear at the tower's facade and force his way in. Laserbeak screeched in rage as his attempts were unsuccessful. His shriek echoed throughout the tower and shook Sumdac to his core.

It wasn't just that it was a shriek, but it was like the screams of the dead to him. He seized the handle of his office door and then threw himself inside. He slammed the door shut and sighed with relief. His office was sound proofed years ago, so Laserbeak could sheirk to his hearts content and Sumdac wouldn't hear it.

While looking at the wall he noticed something odd. There was a large square shadow being cast all over the room.

Sumdac froze and braced himself, hoping that it was just the items in his room. As he turned, he felt his heart jump into his throat.

Stooped over his desk with wires from his arms hooked up to it, was Soundwave.

There was a pregnant pause as Sumdac stared at him. Thoughts raced through his head like Bumblebee using his turbo boosters.

How had Soundwave had gotten into the office without noticing was the one that stood out. As well as, how am I going to get out without him noticing me?

Sumdac pushed himself against the door and tried to gently open it. Soundwave seemed too engrossed his desk to care. The act of Soundwave going through his things both confused and angered Sumdac. What could he even want in his files?

Unfortunately because he was so deep in thought, Sumdac tripped over his own feet. He yelped and flopped onto the floor.

Soundwave's head shot up as he disconnected himself from the system.

"Explain your presence here," he said.

It took a moment for Sumdac's mind to catch up to him. Shakily, he got to his knees and looked at Soundwave. "This is my office, what are you doing in here?" He tried to sound brave but even he heard the shake in his voice.

"My presence is none of your concern, leave now," Soundwave commanded. Sumdac stood in place like a deer in the headlights. "Are you malfunctioning organic I said leave!" Soundwave commanded then pointed toward the door.

When Sumdac didn't give the response Soundwave was hoping, he brought down his foot near the professor.

"Ah, alright I see you're point!" Sumdac shouted in fear.

"Leave," Soundwave said coldly. "I do not have time to waste on organics."

Sumdac began walking toward the door, trying to see if Soundwave would make him move faster. True to his word though, he was being ignored. Soundwave was briskly marching back toward his desk.

Inching his way over to the wall Sumdac slid it open gently. After getting his company back, Sumdac vowed to make up for his mistakes as a businessman and father. Being tricked to build Soundwave was something he regretted. Most of all he was tired of having Decepticons push him around. He'd been tricked by Megatron, then enslaved by him, and then Soundwave himself made him attack his daughter!

As the panel slid open he pulled out a pair of metallic disks. Whilst flicking the switch on one he hurled it toward Soundwave.

The disk made contact with Soundwave's leg and connected to it. An electronic cry echoed from Soundwave and he stumbled. "What have you done to me human?" Soundwave snapped.

"I've begun making ways for me to defend my home." He said said dramatically. "I've studied enough of Megatron's body to know how to hurt you all."

"Illogical. Megatron would never let an organic touch his circuits," Soundwave said.

"I had to rebuild Megatron from the ground up, you and him are some of my greatest mistakes." Sumdac readied the other disk and glared. "Time for me to fix one of them."

He made to throw the disk again only for it to be interrupted.

A loud screech filled the office and Ratbat flew right into professor Sumdac. He fell to the floor with a startled cry.

The device fell from his hands and rolled across the floor. Sumdac looked up and watched as Soundwave smashed it with his hand.

"A pitiful attack, fleshling, but Soundwave is superior," Soundwave said as he tore off the other disk and crushed it.

Sumdac was unable to get a word in edgewise as Soundwave reached toward him. He tried to get up and move, but the blow from Ratbat had done a number on him. He stumbled and fell to his knees once again which allowed Soundwave to pick him up. He held Sumdac aloft like one would hold a dead rodent.

"I will not allow anyone to interfere with my plans" he said coldly.

Despite the fear racing through his body Sumdac took note of this. Soundwave seemed to let his anger take control when he was hurt. Such information wouldn't do anyone good if he didn't survive.

Soundwave looked toward Ratbat and flashed his optics. "Dispose of this nuisance," he ordered.

He dropped Sumdac and Ratbat picked him up, then turned and then burst through the doors. Sumdac shielded himself as best he could with his arms while Ratbat carried him down the hallway. He looked outside the window, spotting Laserbeak flying outside. He could have sworn that he was giving him a smug look.

As they flew near the elevator, Ratbat leaned his lower body back. As the doors opened he flung himself forward while letting go of Sumdac.

The professor screamed as he sailed through the air before his cry was silenced by his impact with the elevator wall.

"Oh….." He rubbed his head.

He turned back toward the doors as they closed. Silence abruptly followed their closure.

Sumdac peered around, waiting for the next calamity to hit him. For a moment there was nothing of the sort. Just the grey walls of the elevator and silence.

Is that all he was planning to do with me?

It seemed as if the world was telepathic for after he finished that thought the lights became a deep red.

Before Sumdac could comprehend what was happening he felt like the floor was dropping out from beneath him.

But that was far from the case as he quickly realized. Soundwave was making the elevator go into free fall.

His mind raced as fast as it could go but his mouth did only one thing. Scream.

Ratbat fluttered back into the office proudly. Soundwave stood up from where he crouched and offered his arm. Happily, Ratbat took the perch and shrieked.

"You have done well, Ratbat," Soundwave crooned. "Now to finish what we came for."

Soundwave extended a wire from his fingers and then plugged it into Sumdac's computer. It'd taken a long while to get through all the firewalls but he was now in the system. Soundwave's visor flashed red as he disconnected himself.

"I am now in complete control of this tower and its defenses." He said.

While speaking he began to activate the security measures. Every single door in the tower locked up tighter than Optimus knees on a dance floor. Around two dozen police helicopter drones flew out of various points in the tower, while several of the Headmaster's old warbot designs began to emerge from hidden spaces in the walls.

Sumdac had only strengthened the towers forcefield as a defense. The drones had all come from when Powell was in control of the tower, and while Sari and he had found some of them, the rest had stayed hidden until now.

As a final touch the force field activated and covered the tower. Only this time the force field was now a deep crimson red.

"This tower is under Decepticon control." Soundwave said, looking out at the city. "Once I have my master freed this tower shall become a model for a Decepticon world."

Laserbeak flew up to the top of the tower and perched on the spires of the space bridge. He let out a very loud screech that echoed across the city. A screech of victory.

When the Autobots arrived at the tower, they quickly noticed the large red force field surrounding it, looming overhead like a giant monolith.

"Well that's new." Ratchet observed.

The Autobots transformed out of their vehicle modes, gazing skyward at the visibly red energy field.

"I didn't know that the humans liked Decepticon red." Jazz sarcastically commented.

"Wait, that's actually a shade?" Bulkhead asked.

Sari ignored them and ran over to the force field. Her scanners screamed that something was very wrong about the force field. Not just it's colors but also its energy make up. She decided to experiment and activated her blade to try and run the force field through. Her blade stabbed it only for it to send a jolt of electricity running through her body.

"Yeow!" Sari shouted and scampered back. "This is bad, very bad."

"Do you think we we're too late?" asked Bumblebee.

"We can't be sure of that. I doubt that this is what Soundwave's big plan is," Optimus said.

"After hypnotizing everything in the city including us, this seems rather tame," Ratchet quipped.

"Who cares if it's not his M.O., my dad's still trapped in there!" Sari raced over to the others in a near frenzy.

"We'll get him out Sari don't worry." Arcee knelt down and looked Sari in the optics. "I'm sure that your father is just fine and safe."

Sari wished that Arcee's attempt at being comforting worked. But she didn't know Soundwave as well as the rest of the team, excluding Jazz, did.

"Ratchet, see if you can force open the field with your magnets again," Optimus said,

Ratchet stepped forward and peered closely at the field. His scanners were picking up the same anomalies that Sari had.

"I don't think that'll work this time," he said while stepping back. "It seems like whatever Soundwave's done, he's made the field stronger."

"So his big plan is to just make us sit outside the tower?" Bumblebee shook his head. "After what he did last time, this is just silly."

It was at that moment Bulkhead noticed something. At the tower's top a blue light was pulsing, along with some cracking electricity.

"I think I know what he's after!" Bulkhead pointed up.

Everyone looked along with him and they felt their sparks drop.

"The space bridge!" They all cried in unison.

"Do you think he's trying to sabotage it?" Arcee asked. "Or is he trying to get off world?"

"We can't just let him mess around with it either!" Ratchet shouted.

Optimus looked down towards Sari and then kneeled. Sari dashed over to him and stood at attention.

"Sari, can you go up there and check things out?" he asked. Optimus was unsure about letting Sari go up there, but she was the smallest and the only other one with flight capabilities. Sari nodded and then looked up.

"You got it, Prime," she said and spread her wings wide. She shot off into the air almost knocking Bulkhead back from the force.

Sari rocked upward, the wind rushing across her face as she got closer to the tower's top. She cooled down the jet pack, bringing herself to a steady speed. Gently rising she peered through the forcefield and onto the roof. Soundwave was standing at the space bridge controls and was typing rapidly. Ratbat was perched atop the monitor and watched his master at work.

"What are you up to, you overgrown tinker toy?" Sari murmured.

She took notice of something that sat close to Soundwave's legs. It was cylindrical and massive compared to Sari herself.

Her attempt to peer closer at it was rudely interrupted as Laserbeak jumped in front of her. He screeched at Sari as loud as he could.

"Yipe!" Sari leapt back in alarm as Laserbeak screeched once more.

"So the tinfoil turkey's back to huh?" Sari glared at him.

Laserbeak seemed to take insult that that remark and screeched once again. Soundwave turned toward the altercation and stretched out his arm. "Laserbeak return to me, there is nothing she can do to stop us," he ordered.

After glaring at Sari one last time, Laserbeak turned and flew back towards Soundwave. He perched on his arm and stayed there. Soundwave himself looked up toward Sari.

"Give up, techno organic, you cannot win this time," he said with a hint of a taunting tone in his voice.

"If I had a date with Bee for every time I've heard that…" Sari rolled her optics in annoyance.

Soundwave was done with the conversation however, as he returned to his work without a second thought.

For a brief moment Sari thought about trying to distract him, yelling at him or trying to see if she could do anything to the force field. She quickly realized that such effort would be futile and with a dejected sigh began her descent.

The others were waiting as Sari flew down and alighted herself on her boyfriend's shoulder.

"So what's the 411?" asked Bumblebee.

"He's definitely up to something with the space bridge." Sari crossed her arms and looked down.

"Good thing I put in those codes." Bulkhead said triumphantly. "He can't do a thing to the space bridge without them."

"He managed to reprogram you guys into mindless slaves almost a year ago." Sari pointed out. "Something tells me that hacking the space bridge won't take as much effort."

Bulkhead's optics burst open wide in horror. The others all looked up once more. A deep frown crossed Optimus's face.

They needed a plan, one that wasn't haphazard and had a high chance of working. He looked at Ratchet who was still studying the force field. "Any luck on that field, Ratchet?" he asked.

Ratchet stepped back and then looked at Optimus. "There might be a way to get it open just wide enough for a bot to get through but it'll take some time."

"Maybe we need to combine our techniques to try and force it open?" suggested Bulkhead.

Jazz walked over and held his hand up to the field. He bowed his head slightly and then turned back toward the others. "I think I can weaken it with my processor over matter but we'll need something else to fully get through."

Ratchet stepped up while activating his magnets and looking determined. "I got through this thing once, let's see if I can do it again," he said.

Optimus turned and looked over the assembled Autobots. "Alright, but we need to figure out what we're doing once inside."

"We just go upstairs and kick Soundwave's skidplate what else is there?" Bumblebee shrugged.

"I'm willing to bet half my energon rations that he'll be expecting that," Optimus said.

"Care to take up on that bet?" asked Bumblebee.

"I know the tower inside and out, so I need to get in there," Sari firmly said.

"But you don't know what he's got in store once you actually get in." Arcee walked over and looked at Sari. She then glanced up at Optimus. "I'm willing to do what's necessary to help sir" she said firmly.

"Are you sure Arcee?" Optimus asked.

"I was an intel bot sir, they didn't let a school teacher run through enemy lines without teaching her a few tricks."

Optimus nodded before he turned his head toward Bumblebee. "I want you to go too," he said.

"Is this because of what I said earlier?" he asked.

"Partially. I'm also going by how much time you spend in the tower," Optimus said while crossing his arms. "I thought you might know a few methods of getting around."

Bumblebee raised a finger to argue but stopped before speaking. He sighed, knowing that he was defeated this time

"Once inside find a way to turn off the generator and then we'll get Soundwave," Optimus ordered.

It wasn't long before the plan was put into action. Jazz sat in front of the force field and began focusing on meditation. As he got more focused he began to hum loudly. Ratchet watched the field with his scanners and as a part of it began to weaken he used his magnets on it. Using all of his strength he pulled open a hole wide enough for Arcee and Bee to get through.

Optimus turned and motioned for the two, who sat in the distance in vehicle mode. As Bulkhead put down a ramp, the sound of twin engines roaring to life echoed around. Like lighting Arcee and Bee raced for the ramp, catching it at near top speed Arcee sailed in first followed by Bumblebee.

Both of them changed back to robot mode to stop themselves. Sari was cupped in Bumblebee's hands and happened to be a little shaken.

With a groan Ratchet deactivated his magnets and stumbled back. Bulkhead grabbed him as he was about to topple over.

Arcee strode over and looked sadly toward Ratchet. He gave back a "thumbs up" and then waved her off. "Okay so what's our next move?" she asked Sari.

"The front desk has force field controls, Daddy put a ton around the tower in case it were to malfunction," Sari explained

The three of them looked towards the door. Apprehensively they waited a moment before making a move toward it as there was no telling if Soundwave knew of their prescience. When nothing happened, they carefully began to approach the tower door.

Sari ran up to it and then tried to throw the doors open, only to discover that they were locked. She pushed and shoved on them but they wouldn't budge at all. Arcee and Bee looked at each other.

"Stand back ladies, I'll get us in," Bee said dramatically.

Arcee turned to tell him off but it was already too late as he hurled himself at the window. The reinforced windows had something to say however and Bee ended up crashing into her.

"Okay, maybe not my best plan," he grumbled and rubbed his head.

"It wouldn't do you any good either, shattering that window would alert Soundwave that we're here."

"And how exactly would you know that?" asked Bumblebee.

"I'm an intelligence bot young one, which in human terms means I'm a spy." Arcee said with a smirk.

"Well that doesn't help us get in though," Bee said.

"Just give me some time to think."

As Arcee and Bee argued, Sari placed a hand onto the door. She looked down and felt a tingling sensation in her wrist. She gently poked at it and the lower part of her arm opened up and extended. What came out was one of the blades she'd gotten with her original upgrade with a key difference.

It was now red and on fire.

Sari's wings shot up in alarm and she almost let out a screech of fear. She quickly calmed down, remembering that her upgrade gave her fire powers.

She looked at the blade then the door, and beneath her mask she grinned. Carefully as to not miss she wedged the blade in between the double doors.

She moved upwards, cutting and melting the locks and sensors between the doors. Once finished and with blades deactivated she looked at her boyfriend and Arcee.

"If we can find a way to scale up the tower then maybe we could-"

"Right, right, I'll just call Scoop and ask him to let us borrow Hightower"

"Hey guys!" Sari called.

The two stopped quarreling and looked over at her. Sari turned daintily on her toes and then shoved the doors open effortlessly.

Both Arcee and Bumblebee stared with wide optics, and in Bee's case a slacked jaw. Sari glanced over her shoulder once more.

"Well what are we waiting for?" She impatiently asked. Bee grinned and looked at Arcee.

"I love that girl." he said with a grin. Arcee rolled her optics with a smile and walked toward the door.

Cautiously they stepped into the tower and looked around. At first everything seemed normal, until Sari's gaze fell upon the reception bot and her desk. Or what was left of them as both desk and robot had been crushed to pieces. Sari dashed over and looked over the remains.

Please be intact, please be intact, please be intact.

Sari's spirit deflated as she saw that the device that would have shut down the force field was shattered.

Bumblebee walked over and winced sympathetically. Sari sighed and then looked at the two. "Everyone split up, there's more than one way to shut down the force field."

"What are the other methods?" asked Arcee.

Sari didn't reply in time as suddenly the screen behind her lit up. Soundwave's face stared back at them coldly.

"Did you believe that I would let you take away my victory easily?"

"Given the rate of success on your plans, yeah," Bumblebee taunted.

"Foolish Autobots, I have learned from my mistakes and have adjusted accordingly, this time there shall be no escape for any of you. This time, Soundwave shall be superior and all shall see that the Autobots are inferior."

The screen suddenly flicked off, leaving the Autobots alone once more. They all exchanged glances and Arcee broke the silence.

"Is he always so dramatic?"

The doors around them all suddenly burst open and a dozen security drones rolled in, followed by the helicopter drones

"Oh great, he found Powell's toybox," Sari groaned.

From the stairs marched another set of security bots and helicopter drones raced in from above. Sari flicked her wrists, activating both of her fire blades. Bumblebee activated his stingers, Arcee raised her swords and the three pushed back together.

"Is it just me or are we getting stuck in situations like this more than usual?" Muttered Bumblebee.

"So not the time!" Snapped Both Arcee and Sari.

The screen flickered on once and Soundwave's optic band seemed to have lit up in joy.

"The instruments of your destruction have arrived, prepare for annihilation."

"Okay you're right. He really is dramatic," Arcee said to Sari, suspecting that it came from Soundwave's days as her toy.

A monotonous laugh began to echo not just from the screen but the drones themselves as they started to advance on the group. Even though there wasn't much fear amongst them they all knew one thing. It was going to be one heck of a fight.


	4. Chapter 4

**Transformers is owned by Hasbro/Takara, I own nothing.**

 **Also, time to get a bit personal. Lately I've been feeling a little bit..unappreciated with these stories. People like them but I haven't been seeing much in the way of reviews for them. Veiws are nice but it's feedback that really matters to an author, I kind of feel like I'm throwing my work into an empty void, or that it's terrible and no one likes it. So if you can/know how please leave a review so I can know what you all like, what you dislike and what I need to fix.**

 **Anyway, onto the story**

* * *

Without a single moment of hesitation, the drones opened fire on the trio. They scattered as energy blasts came raining down all around. The Autobots were no fools to this and all ran for the nearest cover. Sari and Bumblebee made for a large pillar while Arcee hid behind a piece of segmented wall.

"I thought your dad would keep this much firepower here!" Bumblebee shouted. "But I'm glad it was never used on me."

"Daddy only keeps like half that many drones in case of serious emergency." Sari said.

"Powell brought the rest in here and we've been trying to remove them, they've just been really hard to find."

"What did he build secret passageways or something?" Bumblebee asked. Sari gave a nod of affirmation and a smirk crossed Bumblebee's face.

"How long do you think we could make out in one of those rooms without anyone noticing?."

"Not the time!" Sari said, thankful that her mask hid how red her face was getting. Her wings told a slightly different story as they rose up slightly.

A couple of helicopter drones flew overhead and shot at the two of them. Bee blasted at the drones with his stingers, frying their circuitry and blowing them up in mid air. Sari summoned up a ball of fire and shot it at a security drone that was getting too close.

"We're having to do this a lot today." Sari muttered as the drone partially melted. It tried to turn itself to shoot at her but Sari send another burst of fire at it, melting the rest of it.

Bumblebee ducked down as a pair of shots passed overhead and shattered some of the windows behind them. Glancing over they could see that Arcee was watching them and the drones. She had no ranged abilities to combat the drones but she seemed to be coming up with a plan.

Another blast hit Bee and Sari's cover, causing it to crack and buckle. Both Sari and Bee glanced at it nervously.

Arcee decided that enough was enough and she pulled out her swords. Swiftly she carved out a section of the wall and threw it at a pair of approaching security drones. One was crushed and the other was knocked onto its side. A burst of electricity from Bumblebee finished the job.

Repeating the process, Arcee managed to take down three aerial drones before the section of wall crushed another security droid. Bumblebee cheered in delight as the drones went down and struck back with his electricity once again.

Sari had her mind on other matters though as she looked around the room. She knew exactly what Soundwave was pulling and she was surprised that the others weren't picking up on it.

"We need to get moving." Sari said and looked at Bee. :If we stay here too long when we're just playing right into Soundwave's hands."

"I hope you've got an idea!" Bumblebee fired off another bolt of electricity and destroyed a drone.

"I do but you've just gotta trust me." Sari said while extending her wings. Bumblebee just gave her a smile and a nod as she shot up into the air.

Sari spread out her arms and flames shot from them and onto the ground in between the drones and her two friends. Using her concentration, she managed to raise the flames high above the drones and the heads of her fellow Autobots.

"Get to the stairs!" She called down.

Despite their initial shock and surprise both Arcee and Bumblebee transformed and drove around the flames, while keeping a close optic on the drones and Sari. Sari bit her lip as she concentrated on keeping the fire contained.

The drones lasers kept slamming into the wall of flames, their programming still believing the bots were there, in an attempt to break it down. Clearly these things don't know about physics. Sari thought to herself as Bee and Arcee finally reached the doorway to the stairs. She sent the flame rushing toward the drones and shot off like a rocket.

She didn't look back to see what the flames were doing. The sprinklers were bound to kick on any second now and put an end to her work. Diving inside the room, she pulled the doors shut just as the sprinkler system turned on.

Arcee and Bumblebee slammed the doors shut behind Sari, so as to deter any survivors. Sari got out from her landing position and shakily stumbled back. Arcee bent down and offered her hand for support; Sari sat in it and sighed, retracting her helmet as well.

"Are you okay Sari?" Arcee gently asked.

"I'm fine I just used a lot of energy doing that trick." Sari said between gasps. Her internal systems were feeling slightly overheated and her human side wasn't coping every well.

"Well that little trick saved our bumpers." Bumblebee said with a reassuring smile. He looked over and spotted a water cooler sitting nearby, this gave him zero hope for how long it would take them to get upstairs.

As he walked over to get Sari a cup, Arcee's com link pinged.

"Is everything alright Arcee? Ee saw smoke coming from the lobby."

"Everything's fine sir, Sari just stopped an attack from some pesky little drones." Arcee glanced at the tired out techno organic.

"Have you found a way to shut down the force field?"

While Optimus and Arcee talked, Bumblebee was still trying to get Sari a cup of water. He's already crushed three cups and had finally gotten the forth under the nozzle. He sighed as the water flowed from the nozzle into the cup. In doing so he shifted his weight and caused the water to splash onto his fingers. His hand slipped and he crushed the cup, splashing his face with water.

"No sir, it appears that Soundwave has compromised all means of shutting it down." Arcee did all she could to keep from laughing.

"Okay we'll try and figure something out." Optimus's sigh was heard over the com.

"Try and figure out what Soundwave's doing and then report back okay?"

Bumblebee walked over, dripping wet and he handed Sari the cup that he'd successfully filled with water. Sari graciously took and drank it in under five seconds.

"Understood sir, over and out." Arcee said.

"I'm not a sir Arcee, you don't have to keep calling us that."

"Yeah we work for a living!" Ratchet's shout made Arcee smile as she deactivated her comlink.

"Do either of you know the quickest way to the top?" She asked.

"The elevators are the most straight way up but I doubt they're working now." Sari shook her head sadly.

"Even if we could fit into them." Bumblebee pointed out.

"The next best option would be the stairs, it may take us a bit to get up there though." Sari glanced towards the spiraling staircases. The others followed her gaze and then exchanged looks. It was going to take them longer but they didn't really have another choice now.

"Looks like we'd better get moving!" Arcee said cheerily. Bumblebee gave her a blank look, confused by her enthusiasm.

"We've gotta deal with it sometime Bee, come on." Arcee said. "Besides I'm carrying Sari with me."

Sari playfully waved "bye" to her boyfriend as Arcee began her ascent up the stairs. Bumblebee watched them for a few seconds before, with an upset sigh, he sprinted up after them.

"I hate it when you do that to me." he huffed. Both Arcee and Sari just rolled their eyes.

On the outside it would appear that Soundwave was calm as he worked on cracking the space bridge's access codes. On the inside he was seething with rage as he watched the Autobots make their way up the stairs.

* * *

With his mind hooked into all of the devices in the tower, he could mentally watch and control everything without even moving. It had been one of two new features he'd added with this body. He was hoping that he could go without the second feature being used.

The Autobots were an irksome lot who never knew when to quit no matter the odds. While some might find it "heroic" it was annoying to Soundwave and a great deal of others. He needed to remind the Autobots that despite what they thought he was now in control.

He was the chestmaster now, planning this for over a year and watching every move the Autobots made since they returned. He was more than confident that he knew their every move more than the Autobots themselves.

They'd put themselves into this game and he was determined to win it.

"Laserbeak, Ratbat, come." He ordered. His two creations let out screeches and flew circles over him, waiting their orders.

"The Autobots cannot be allowed to get close to my work, destroy them." He ordered without even looking at them.

Both creatures gave out twin avian screeches before flying down and into the tower. Soundwave didn't even spare a second glance as he continued his work.

As far as he was concerned victory was already his.

* * *

"Are we anywhere near the top yet?"

"Bumblebee you go to this tower almost every day you should know where we are!" Arcee said, giving Bumblebee a cross look.

"But I'm usually taking the elevator." Bumblebee said. Sarcee and Sari both sighed as they rolled their optics.

It hadn't taken long for them to get fatigued from all of the walking up the stairs for so long, only twenty minutes and they were still nowhere near where Soundwave was. Arcee had them being cautious as they made their way around.

As they approached the next floor, she held out her arm to stop Bumblebee. Sari sat on Arcee's shoulder, still trying to recover from her firewall. Bumblebee looked past Arcee's arm and sighed.

"I'm pretty sure I know what's going to be on this floor." He said. "Absolutely nothing!"

"That can all change and in less than ten clicks your spark could be in Decepticon hands." Arcee said coldly.

"I liked you better as a school teacher." Bumblebee grumbled under his breath.

Arcee shot him a look and then carefully took stock of their surroundings. The floor was empty as far as her scanners could see. That didn't mean she wasn't about to drop her guard though and she moved slowly onto the floor.

Bumblebee followed behind and crossed his arms angrily, he respected that Arcee was a spy but in his opinion this was going too far.

"Find any of those imaginary Decepticons yet?"

"I wouldn't call the Decepticon hiding out on the roof imaginary, he already sent those drones after us so who knows what's next?" Arcee whipped her head around just to be sure that it was safe. As she turned to look for the next flight of stairs, they all heard what sounded like someone moaning in pain.

Everyone froze and didn't dare to move. The moan came again and this time Sari was able to pick up on where it was coming from.

She whispered in Arcee's audio. "It sounds like it's coming from the elevator"

Arcee started to walk towards the elevator doors, blades out and ready should something leap out to attack them. Soon she was standing at the doors and got down onto her knees. Sari stood up on her shoulder before hopping down and tapping the doors.

She jumped back in case they blew up or something but that didn't happen. A long silence rested in the air for a moment, and then the moan came again followed by a voice.

"H-Hello is someone there?"

Sari's wings flew upwards in alarm when she heard the voice

"Daddy?, are you okay?" She asked, sprinting to the elevators doors. "Were you in the elevator when Soundwave took over?"

"Oh no, I got thrown in here by Soundwave when he took over." The elder Sumdac responded. Sari bit her lower lip and she grabbed the doors.

"Hold on daddy, let me just get these open." Sari said. Arcee and Bumblebee moved to stop Sari from over exerting herself but before they could she;d forced the elevator doors open. She stepped back and stared. The evaluator was jammed halfway between floors, it's top half was the only part visible to them.

Bumblebee reached for the cables and then tried to pull up. To his surprise the elevator refused to budge an inch.

"Okay did someone glue the elevator in place?" Bumblebee asked.

"It's not "glued into place," I hit the emergency brake system that stopped it from plummeting." Sumdac explained as Arcee gently moved Bumblebee away. She brought her sword close to the elevator and then tapped it.

"Mr. Sumdac if you could please step back from the wall and move to the other side of the elevator it would be appreciated." She waited until she could hear the professor back away from the doors. She thrust her sword into the elevator and sliced it across.

Arcee pulled back her sword and grabbed the elevator's top. Carefully she pried it open and glanced down into it. Professor Sumdac sat still and looked up at her in awe, a look of relief soon crossed his face. He hadn't been this happy to see an Autobot since they brought Sari home from Cybertron.

"Daddy are you okay?" Sari asked, poking her head over Arcee's shoulder.

"I believe I am fine." Sumdac tried to stand but his leg refuses to stand properly. He pitched forward and landed on his arm.

"Okay, maybe I'm not as well as I thought," he admitted. Arcee reached down and gently scooped him into her hands. She got up and moved back from the elevator shaft.

It was plain to see that he'd twisted his ankle, but more pressing was that his left arm was now hanging limply by his side, and slightly swollen. Sari gasped and carefully moved to hug her father.

"Woah, looks like you put up a fight." Bumblebee said. "What happened up here?"

"After I saw that robot bird I ran to my office to activate the tower's forcefield, but I found Soundwave there first, he didn't pay me much mind until I tried to fight back.":

"Okay, I was just kidding about you putting up a fight but you actually did it?" Bumblebee exclaimed

"After everything that's happened, wouldn't you take steps to protect what you hold most dear?" he asked, trying to hug his daughter back.

Unbeknownst to them, Laserbeak had witnessed them rescue the professor. He circled around the tower and called out to Ratbat, who flapped down to join him. They flew away from the tower and up into the air.

With a stunning accuracy and speed he turned back and swooped in low. Opening his mouth, he let out a concussive blast against the window before ramming iit at full speed. The Autobots and human all jumped as the window shattered to pieces.

Laserbeak let out a triumphant screech and buzzed over Bumblebee, leaving a pair of scratches across the top of his helmet.

"Hey I just had that painted!" he shouted.

Laserbeak ignored him, circled back around, and dive bombed Arcee's head. Arcee jumped back and kicked her leg out. It connected with Laserbeak's torso and he was sent crashing to the ground.

Bumblebee ran over with his stingers charged up, determined not to let Laserbeak get away. His plan was marred by Ratbat coming in and charged right toward him. Bee shouteed in surprise and dove for the ground.

Ratbat barely just missed his head and let out a screech in anger. Bee turned and began to try and blast him with his stingers. Rabat flew out of the way and seemed to screech mockingly at Bee. Arcee set Sari and her father down, a ways away from the danger.

"Hey, I can fight too!" Sari protested.

"You're still a bit weak from creating that fire wall, right now over exerting yourself isn't advised." Arcee said. Sari glared at her but then sighed, knowing that Arcee had a point.

Bumblebee slid under another attempted strike from Ratbat and blasted him right in the back. Laserbeak tried to strike Bee next, but this blow was also evaded.

"It's gonna take more than that to get the drop on me!" he boasted.

.Arcee kicked out as Laserbeak circled around to get a shot at the yellow pest, knocking him into the wall". He screeched as she held him down.

"Normally I don't approve violence against animal Cybertronians…" She trailed off and Laserbeak nipped at her arm. "But for you, I'll make an exception."

She grabbed Laserbeak's neck and slammed his head into the floor, pinning him to it. He struggled and cried out but Arcee refused to let up. Ratbat, however, didn't take this lying down and swooped to the defense of his fellow deployer while Arcee was distracted.

His kill was cut off as Bumblebee blasted him from behind with a dual shock blast from his stingers. Ratbat cried out in pain as the blast shocked his systems and then spiraled out and crashed into the floor. Before he could even think about getting up, Bumblebee stomped his foot down onto Ratbat's torso and pinned him.

"I think that's us two and team Soundwave zero!' Bumblebee pumped his fist smiled at the young bot's enthusiasm and then looked down at the captured Laserbeak

"What exactly are these?" She asked. "They're unlike any type of Cybertronian creature that I've seen.

"Soundwave's little pets, he's lonely enough to have become a crazy bird man." Sari said, walking over to them, supporting her father with his good arm.

"Fascinating..in a sick Decepticon way." She said while trying to get a better look at Laserbeak, who didn't take it well. He tried to chomp down onto her hand as it came close to him. Arcee pulled it away right before he could.

"They're rude as Decepticons too." She said.

"So...what do we do with them?" Bumblebee asked as he grabbed Ratbat by the wings and pulled him up. He made Ratbat's wings wrap around and held them tight so he couldn't escape.

"I'd suggest holding them somewhere until we've got a better plan." Arcee said while attempting to copy Bumblebee's actions with Laserbeak.

Unbeknownst to them Laserbeak and Ratbat had been watching a plan. As Arcee placed her hands onto Laserbeak's wings, both he and Ratbat simultaneously opened their mouths. Before Arcee and Bumblebee could react they both unleashed their sonic screeches at the same time.

They dropped the two and gripped their audio receptors in pain as the screech rang throughout the room. Bumblebee wasn't sure but he thought he heard Sari and her father's screams as well, the ringing was too much already.

The windows began to crack and before long they exploded outward, but not just that floor. The windows kept exploding up until the floor directly under Sari's room. Both Decepticons made good to take their leave, but Arcee wasn't out yet.

Ignoring the ringing in her ears she ran forward and grabbed onto Laserbeak's torso.

"Where do you think you're going?" She said.

Already annoyed by his defeat at her hands before, Laserbeak was now peeved at the former schoolteacher. He jerked up and flew up into the air, trying to throw her off his body. Arcee stubbornly clung to him and refused to let go.

Laserbeak flew up into the sky, above the roof of the tower. Arcee didn't look down but braced herself for whatever Laserbeak had planned next. He turned and went into a nose dive toward the roof.

Before she knew what was happening Laserbeak pulled up, causing Arcee to lose her grip. The fall was shorter than what she'd expected but it still was a blow to her systems.

As her systems tried to sort out the shock, as well as try to figure out what compelled her to leap out of a window, she heard footsteps approaching her. She turned her body and gazed up at the bot standing before her.

"So you are the Autobot who has been interfering with my plans." Soundwave droned.

He raised his arm, allowing Laserbeak to perch onto it. Soundwave looked into the optics of his bird and then back at Arcee.

"You have harmed my creations." He said.

"Sorry about that but they weren't exactly friendly to me." Arcee stood up and stared Soundwave down. He was shorter than her but something about him warned her to be careful with him.

"This isn't a fight you will win Autobot, I shall prove that I am superior." Soundwave boldly stated. He raised his arms up and as Laserbeak flew away, a pair of small devices extended from each arm. The devices sputtered to life and then activated, energy flowed from both and formed into twin pairs of shields on his arms.

Arcee grabbed her swords and held them out in front of her, she watched and waited for him to make his move. Soundwave crouched low, and then sent out a massive burst of sound with his speakers. Arcee cried and tried to hold her ground as Soundwave charged.

He moved his left arm in front of his body and crashed into Arcee. She flew back and had to dig her swords into the floor to keep herself from flying off the roof. Her audios rang with both the cry of his minions and his blast of sound.

Arcee struggled to push through the pain as Soundwave made ready to bash her once again. She jumped up and stopped his advance with her blades. Pushing against the smaller stopping him in his tracks.

Soundwave pushed back harder and right as he was about to push her, Arcee rolled to the side and kicked her leg out. As Soundwave ran forward he tripped and fell to the floor. Arcee wryly smirked and then stood up.

"I don't think you're as superior as you think." She said.

"You haven't even begun to witness what I have done to myself, I will not be defeated this time or ever again."

Soundwave turned to face her and his visor lit up. The shields began to crackle with electricity and sputtered. Arcee bit her lip, she hadn't been in a fight like this in years. But she she knew that she couldn't give up not now or ever.

She took a deep breath and ran forward to clash with Soundwave once again. Their fight had only just begun.

* * *

 ** _Fight Night!_ The Pink Teaching Unit and the Master of Sound! **

**FYI guys, you may notice some changes done to Arcee's character in that she's more spyish. Well thing is she was an intelligence officer, which is just a fancy way of saying spy. So TFA Arcee must have had some pretty good know how in that field.**

 **Anyway, hope you all stick around and reembmer to review..please.**


	5. Chapter 5

**Hey guys, I really hate to beg again but I'd like to ask, please leave a review on this story, or any of it's chapters. Views are nice but a review means a lot more to me then just a number. I'd like to know what you all think of this story. Do not be afraid to share your thoughts, comments, or criticisms.**

 **Transformers Animated is owned by Hasbro/Takara, I don't own a thing except this plot.**

* * *

It took a few minutes for the pain in Sari's head to finally die down,but the ringing in her ears persisted. She lay on her arms and knees, ears clutched over her ears as her eyes finally opened.

I have no idea what those two bird brains just did, but when I get my servos on them…

Getting to her feet, Sari wobbled around and tried desperately to regain her bearings. She managed to stumble into one of the walls and clung to it. The ringing in her ears was had dulled now, but it was still very painful. As she looked up she saw that Bumblebee and her father were both in the same position she'd ben in earlier.

Before she was able to help either of them, her com link rang sharply. Sari yelped in pain and then sank to her knees with a quiet moan.

"Whoever's calling, can they please keep it down?" She whispered.

"What in the frag is going on up there!?" Ratchet snapped, ignoring Sari's previous request. Sari's hands flew toward her ears and she bit back a scream.

"It sounds like the pit just opened up and blew out half the tower's windows-"

"Ratchet stop..please…" Sari whimpered and clutched her head. The screeching might not have affected the bots like it affected her,hanks to her half human nature it hurt even more than usual.

"What's wrong Sari, are you hurt?" Optimus's voice pinged into the com.

"Just a big headache from Soundwave's pets unleashing a sonic attack that's scrambled...just about everything."

"The pain ought to fade soon, right now we need to know what's going on." Ratchet reiterated.

"I don't know, we're still trying to figure that out ourselves." Sari looked around while Bumblebee got to his feet.

"Man, that was like sitting next to the speakers at a rock concert." He groaned. Bee looked around quickly and then back at Sari. "Hey...where's Arcee?"

"I don't know, you were fighting those things alongside her, so you tell me."

"She can handle herself, we didn't see her fall." Ratchet said. In the past he might have been worried about her, but recent events were proving that Arcee was very capable of handling her own in a combat situation

"Right now just try to focus on turning off that force field."

"Yeah, not like we've been trying to do that this whole time." Bumblebee muttered. Sari rolled her eyes slightly.

"Guys, my dad's been hurt pretty bad, I think his arm might be broken." She said. Her father was just now regaining his senses after the sonic blast.

"Right now there's no way to get him medical attention till the force field's down." Optimus reminded her. Prof. Sumdac looked up at them and then out the window, spotting the tower's force field up only now with it's glowing red hue.

"That's what you need to do?" He asked, in spite of the ringing in his own ears.

"The others are outside and waiting for us to shut it down..you don't mind do you?" Bumblebee asked with a humorless chuckle.

"I'm willing to do whatever it takes to get that..that...thing out of my home." Sumdac said determinedly. "But if you're trying to reach my office, then it won't work, Soundwave smashed my desk and controls."

The faces of the Autobots fell when they heard that. Sari sighed in frustration and Bee looked upward.

"So that means there's no way out of here?"

"Now, now Bumblebee I never said that did I?" Sumdac said with a wry grin. "What's the one thing that the generator needs to keep running?"

Sari and Bee stared at him for a moment and thought his question over. The answer hit Sari like a bolt of lighting and she slapped her forehead.

"Of course, if we shut off all the power then he can't use the force field or the bridge! " Sari exclaimed

"Alright...so...where is the power at? ?" Bee asked.

"In the basement."

Bumblebee stared at Sari and then back at the stairs they'd just come up. It'd taken them awhile to climb up this far and now they had to go back down? He glanced down at Sari who had a determined look on her face as she marched toward the stairs.

"We need to get going if we want to help the others." She said. Bumblebee strode over and set his arm down next to her.

"It will be faster if I do the walking." Bumblebee offered with a smilie.

"Aren't you the gnetlemech." Sari smiled and stepped into her boyfriend's hand. She looked over at her father, still propped up against the wall. "Do you want to come with us daddy?"

"I'll be fine, you need to get there was quickly as possible." He said and propped himself up against the wall. "I will be fine right here."

Sari looked at her father and bit her lip,she didn't want to leave him behind with his injuries. But she knew that they had to take out the generator. She sighed, activated her helmet again, and then looked at Bee.

"Let's go and kick some motherboard."

Bumblebee grinned as he began to run down the stairs, his mind went back to Arcee for a minute before returning to the task at hand. Like Ratchet said, she could handle herself.

* * *

Arcee swung her arms wildly to avoid another strike from Soundwave's shields. She darted to the right just narrowly missing another attempted strike.

One of the things that allowed Arcee to enter the Intel field was her processor, or rather what her processor could do. It was faster than a normal bots and that allowed her to adapt to situations better.

Right now that ability wasn't doing her any amount of good. Every time she tried to think of a strategy Soundwave would attack her, forcing her to drop her concentration and focus on fighting. After this happened about six times she started to see a pattern.

As Soundwave thrust his shields at her once more, she blocked then once again. It was the same thing time and time again. He'd attempt to hold her until they both tired of pushing against each other and then he would pull back. Then once she stopped to think, attack once again.

He's trying to divert me from something, but what?

"Give up Autobot, you cannot beat me." Soundwave droned. "I am Soundwave, I am superior."

He ran at her once again, sheild out and crackling with electricity. This time Arcee waited until Soundwave was less than a foot away from her to act. She kicked her legs and vaulted up, before performing a somersault mid air.

Soundwave was caught off guard by this maneuver and tried to turn and face his opponent. Arcee responded by coming out of her somersault kicking Soundwave's chest. He let out a startled yell while flying backwards.

Flying across the rooftop, Soundwave took note of his damages. Arcee's kick had cracked the glass on his chest. His mind raced to find a way to stop, as he noticed that he was rapidly approaching the edge of the rooftop. He slammed his shield into the roof and dug it in.

He came to a stop, his body hanging over the edge of the tower, his right arm and shield were the only things keeping him from falling. He snapped his head up and glared at Arcee. She stood and watched him for a few seconds, ready in case of his next attack. Soundwave attempted to reach out and grab the roof but the shield on his left arm made said arm get stuck behind his right shield.

Soundwave deactivated the left shield and tried again, but this time his arm hit the shield and he received a jolt. Arcee watched then turned toward the space bridge controls, her chance had come.

He'll figure out a way to come after me again soon, I'd better made this quick.

Sprinting to the space bridge controls, Arcee started to look them over and tried to assess the situation. A small device was hooked to the keys of the controls, black and grey with a rectangular shape.

Arcee stared at it for a brief second and then glance up at the screen. Cybertronian and human data flashed across it as the device did it's work.

"So that's your game." She whispered. He wanted the space bridge, but for what purpose she didn't really know

As she began to look over the device to try and find a way to safely deactivate the device. Arcee's head raced to try and get the answer she needed.

"Now I wish I had listening to Grapples rants on space bridge tech." Arcee muttered while looking over the controls. As she glanced around, she spotted something peculiar sticking out from the floor.

She crouched and pulled the item closer to her in order to get a better look. Once she did however it was dropped as a gasp escaped her lips. The object that Arcee had pulled out was a large sword.

Arcee stared at it for a brief moment before peeking around to spot the other weapons laying next to the consul. What she saw almost froze her energon once she spotted the duplication of Megatron's (in)famous fusion cannon. Alongside that was another sword just like the one she'd already picked up.

"Why does he have replica's of Megatron's weapons." She wondered out loud.

The question got an answer in the form of Soundwave leaping in and swiping at Arcee's head with his shields. Arcee's quick reaction made sure that she didn't take a direct blow to the noggin, unfortunately her right arm took the entire hit.

Arcee cried out in pain and rolled onto her side. She checked herself over and noted the blackened armor on her arm. She tried her best to ignore the pain as Soundwave advanced toward her.

"Autobots have meddled into my affairs far too many times to count, it is time to put an end to your intrusions." He declared.

Before Arcee was able to come up with a counteraction, Soundwave's speakers turned on and blasted her with the full force of his power. She gripped her audials and desperately tried to drown out the sounds coming from the speakers.

"I am Soundwave, I am superior you cannot win." Soundwave said and started toward her, repeating those words every few seconds.

"If you're so superior then why go to all this trouble instead of just taking us out?" Arcee shouted above the noise. The music stopped with a screech and Soundwave glared at her. Acee decided to make a gamble and tried to taunt him once more.

"Another thing, how come according to the others, you've been defeated twice before?" She asked..

The answer came as Soundwave leapt at her and tackled her to the floor. Arcee was completely unprepared for this and as such was taken down.

"You have no idea what you're talking about." Soundwave said, anger creeping into his monotone voice.

"Oh I think I can make an educated guess." She said and then punched him in the head. The blow wasn't enough to leave damage but it threw Soundwave off guard. She lipped out from under him and then turned with a kick.

The kick hit Soundwave and he was sent crashing onto his side a couple yards away from her. She took a moment to check herself over, nothing major aside from the burnt bit on her arm. But Arcee knew that unless Sari and Bee found a way to shut down the forcefield, there would be more injuries than that for Ratchet to patch up.

* * *

The last thing that either Sari and Bee expected was that the generator room was guarded. Sadly it seemed that Soundwave had taken this into account when he'd taken over the tower.

A pair of "warbot" drones all stood at the read surrounding the backup generator as well as the main circuit breaker. All of them staring coldly at the main entrance to the maintenance room. Sari peeked her head around a corner to get a better look at them.

The decision was almost instantly regretted as the drones snapped their heads toward Sari. She didn't stick around to let them get a good look at her.

"See anything?" Bumblebee whispered.

"Yeah it looks like Soundwave's got some back up." Sari said. Her eyes shifted around, on the lookout for another possible pet that Soundwave made. "We've got six of Headmasters war bots to deal with."

"They shouldn't be too hard to deal with." Bee activated his stinger and charged them up.

"Are you crazy, do that and you might fry the power to the building." Said said angrily. "Which means that I'd be out of power for a while and you'd have to climb the stairs if you wanted to see me."

Bumblebee's optics went wide and he let out a whimper. He'd had enough of the Sumdac Tower stairs to last a life cycle. He deactivated his stingers in defeat and glanced around the corner. Like Sari he only got a small glance before the drones all snapped their heads toward him.

With a small yelp Bee ducked his head around the corner. They both stood still as the drones heads slowly rotated to scan the rest of the area.

"Remind me to tell daddy to have a "chat" with powell about this." Sari muttered.

"Okay we can't just go in there and blast them, so what can we do?" Bee asked worryingly.

"Prime's right, we really do need to start thinking this stuff through." Sari shuffled over and quickly looked into the room. As her foot moved it struck a wayward screw which proceeded to roll down the stairs. She gasped and Bumblebeee quickly yanked her back over.

The screw bounced and rolled, catching the attention of the drones. The screw rolled away from the stairs and one of the drones walked after it. The rest kept their optics on the screws. Taking the chance, Bee and Sari took another look.

As they watched the drone smash the screw with it's foot, they looked at each other knowingly.

The drones all returned to their posts and began the wait for the next intruder. Orders were clear on this matter and they were to follow it. The next intrusion came almost as soon as they'd stopped moving.

Twin fireballs burst from the stair well and struck them opposite side of the room. As if that weren't enough a jolt of electricity also shot across and struck the opposite wall. The drones all turned in these directions.

Much to the delight of Sari and Bee, the drones split up. Two went to investigate the fireballs, another pair went after the electricity. As soon as the pairs were far enough away they struck.

Sari shot forth and crashed into the nearest drone. The drone fell onto it's back and before it could recover, Sari put her blade into it's neck. In one clean motion she sliced the drone's head off.

The fallen drones companion moved toward Sari but was caught by Bee. He slammed the drone into the wall and it fell apart from the force.

"Woah, I guess I'm stronger then I look!" Bumblebee chuckled.

The other drones noticed the destruction of their companions and started to head back. Sari and Bee looked at each other.

"I'll take the lefties." Sari said.

"Aw man you always take left." Beee said playfully.

The drones didn't stand any chance against Sari and Bee once they attacked. They both easily reduced the drones to spare parts in under a minute.

"That wasn't as hard as I thought." Bee said as he looked over the destroyed drones.

"I don't think they were really supposed to do anything except intimidate us." Sari said.

"Soundwave should consider getting some more intimidating henchbots."

Sari rushed over to the circuit breaker and tore it open. She knew that her dad would understand, she looked the box over and started flipping all of the switches to the "off" setting. With a loud rumble the tower began to slowly power down.

The lights flickered and then finally went out, leaving the two of them trapped in darkness.

"Let's hope we bought the others enough time to get in." Sari said.

Both of them were unaware that Soundwave had prepared for this. As they stood there power began pumping in from other sources, mainly the city itself. It tricked them because none of the other systems came back on.

After all, Soundwave didn't need to power the whole tower, only two parts of it.

* * *

Outside the force field flickered as well before slowly dissipating, starting from the bottom up. Optimus looked toward the others.

"Everyone we've got the opportunity we've been waiting for!" He shouted.

With that the command they all raced towards the tower, hoping to make it in before Soundwave realized there was a problem. Unfortunately for them, Soundwave was ready.

Right as they were charging in the force field snapped back on. Optimus and Ratchet were within it's confines as it happened, leaving Bulkhead and Jazz stuck outside.

"Aw come on!" Bemoaned Bulkhead.

Optimus and Ratchet looked at each other and then back at Jazz and Bulkhead.

"How did that happen?" Ratchet wondered.

"The emergency generator must still be running, we need to get hat shut down." Optimus said, only to be interrupted when Bulkhead yelped.

He pulled out his storage compartment and reached into it. He pulled out a small device and flicked it on.

"I don't think you have time for that boss bot, Soundwave just got through my codes!"

"He did what?" Both Optimus and Ratchet shouted.

"Can you tell us we're he's trying to transwarp?" Optimus asked and ran over to the forcefield.

"There's no coordinates put in yet, he must be distracted." Bulkhead explained.

"We've got no time to lose then." Optimus looked at the top of the tower and then at Ratchet. The old medibot looked at Optimus and blinked.

"If you're thinking about taking me up there yourself then you're out of your fragging processor!" He snapped.

"We need to get up there now Ratchet, for all we know Soundwave could be trying to lead a Decepticon invasion to us." Optimus said. "If that happens Arcee will be at ground zero."

Ratchet was about to object when Optimus said the part about Arcee. Normally he'd rebuttal and say she could handle herself. But if he was correct, no Autobot could stand down an army of angry Decepticons alone. He sighed and walked over to Optimus.

"You're going to make go offline someday kid." He grumbled. Optimus rolled his optics and placed an arm around Ratchet. Optimus activated his jets and the pair shot off into the sky.

* * *

Arcee stumbled after Soundwave struck her yet again. The electricity in his shields was becoming more and more powerful.

The blows to her system had taken their toll and she was close to overload. However, she knew that giving up wasn't an option. Soundwave needed to be distracted until help arrived.

"Give it up already, you cannot win." Soundwave challenged.

"Why do you even want the space bridge anyway...and what's with the weapons?" Arcee asked.

"You do not need to know." She said alongside Soundwave. He'd given her the same answer each time she asked the question.

"The bridge that you've taken over belongs to Autobots, so we will find out no matter what you do." Arcee said.

"When my mission succeeds it will not matter whether you know or not." Soundwave looked up as the space bridge began to power up. Arcee turned and gasped as she saw it come online. By doing this she left herself open to attack.

Soundwave ran forward and crashed his shield into her back. It's placement sent the shocks all through her body. Arcee cried out in pain as Soundwave harshly shoved her to the floor. He turned back and briskly went to the controls.

"Soon I shall finally see the planet that my creator was built on, and soon I shall be reunited with him."

"B-but I thought that professor Sumdac invented you for Sari." Arcee looked up, the electricity still coursing through her.

"The fleshling may have created my body, but my design and desire to be free from organics came from Megatron."

What Soundwave said hit Arcee like a lightning bolt. Megatron created him, and is that was the case then it all fell into place. The weapons, the space bridge the reason he was keeping it a secert.

He was going to try and free Megatron.

Soundwave stared at the femme and watched the look on her face turn into one of panic. She'd figured out his plans, the plans he'd been trying to keep secret for so long. If the Autobots had discovered it too soon they would fight even harder to stop him.

But now it was too late for the Autobots do anything, the space bridge was unlocked and soon he'd have the coordinates. Once his creator was freed then Decepticon victory would be assured.

His plans of returning Megatron to power were soon put on hold, as Optimus flew up up and dropped Ratchet onto the roof. Soundwave didn't have a chance to wonder how they got past his forcefield before Optimus kicked him away from thee controls.

"I don't know what you're planning Soundwave, but it ends here!" Optimus declared and pulled out his axe.

Soundwave got up and reached out his arm. High above Laserbeak and Ratbat had watched the fight, now their master was summoning them to join in. The pair dived down ready to fight for their master once again.

The flight was cut short as Ratchet's magnets caught them in twin beams. They both screeched in pain as Ratchet pulled his arms closer. Both guitarbots collided in mid air and were knocked out. Everyone watched as the pair fell like stones onto the floor below.

Soundwave looked on in horror before trying to charge Ratchet. Optimus halted the charge by throwing himself in front of Soundwave. The axe struck Soundwave's shield and kept it from moving. Optimus however was far from done and he used his jets to push Soundwave back.

"You're out numbered Soundwave, it might be wisee to give up now." said Optimus.

"Numbers do not matter to me Autobot, you just need a good strategy" Soundwave threw his free fist Into Optimus's chest and activated the shield.

Optimus cried out as the electrical current surged through him. Soundwave activated his music and blasted Optimus away from him. Optimus sailed backwards and hit the floor hard.

Soundwave cranked up the volume on his music, hoping to effect Ratchet as well. He turned toward the medic and started moving forward. Ratchet bit down hard and used his magnets to grab hold of the space bridge tower.

"You cannot resist me Autobot, I am Soundwave, you will fall before me." Soundwave threatened.

"I am superior, I am Soundwave." Ratchet looked up at him, narrowing his optics.

"Oh yeah, we'll I've faced down the Decepticon Heavy Brigade, clones of Omega Supreme, and Megatron himself, you don't scare me at all!"

Soundwave's visor twitched at his words. If there was one thing he couldn't stand, it was an attack on his character. He ran forward without warning and leapt at Ratchet, who jumped aside.

Soundwave slammed his feet into the ground and turned to try and strike Ratchet. Ratchet jumped back, activated his magnets and used them to grab hold of Soundwave's shield.

"Let's work on that attitude of yours." Ratchet said and then flung Soundwave to the side.

What Ratchet didn't realize was where he was throwing Soundwave. Soundwave's visor went wide in fear as she slammed into one of the pillars of the space bridge. Ratchet had expected Soundwave to simply hit it and bounce off.

That would have been the case if his shields weren't electrically charged.

When he struck the bridge the electricity flowed through the tower and right back into Soundwave's body. Ordinarily his systems could handle that, if he had true cybertronian technology. But since his parts were made on Earth the electric charge did much more damage.

The Autobots looked on in shock as Soundwave's body began to spark and sizzle. Energy crackled and twisted along his frame. Wires fried and circuits popped all over, the same thing was happening to the space bridge.

Arcee watched and looked at the controls, which were now flashing warning signs. Ratchet knew that if Soundwave stayed attached any longer the bridge might blow up. He once again grabbed Soundwave with his magnets and yanked him off the spire.

His body fell backwards and crashed onto the floor, parts of it shattering off. His chest plate and shields both shattered on impact and he came to a stop in front of Optimus's feet.

The three Autobots stared at Soundwave's prone form for a moment. Prime bent down and looked into the shattered remains of his chest.

"D-did you take him offline?" Arcee asked.

"Far from it, Soundwave's been smashed apart before and there's always one part left online…" Optimus said as he found what he was looking for. He pulled something out, snapping a couple of wires

Optimus pulled a tiny blue box out of Soundwave's chest, it appeared to be a small media player. This small box was the true Soundwave. A light pulsated on the player as Soundwave's voice echoed.

"I am Soundwave, I am superior, you cannot defeat me!" he shouted in defiance.

Wordlessly Optimus moved his finger and hit the "Off" button. Soundwave's words died out as he shut off.

"Sorry Soundwave, you're not so superior after all."

* * *

 **Originally I planned to put the Epilogue in this chapter but it was already getting too wordy. One more chapter guys!**

 **Remember** **to review, it really does mean a lot because right now I feel like I'm throwing these into an empty void of silence. I want to hear your thoughts and I prefer them over numbers.**

 **Till next time, Fanatic97 out.**


	6. Chapter 6

**Transformers Aniamted is owned by Hasbro/Takara.**

 **I really hate having to ask you guys this, but I love seeing all the veiws for this story, but I'd like to know your thoughts. Writing is my passion and I'm more then a littile upset that I just seem to be throwing my words into the void. So if you can please leave a review, or just PM me, I'd very m,uch appericate any thoughts you have.**

* * *

If there was one thing Soundwave was, it was that he is a bot who's willing to bide his time. IT took him over a year to pull himself back together and enact his plan at Christmas. It took even longer for him to rebuild himself and Ratbat after that. Soundwave was a mech of patience, willing to wait on his plans for a very long time.

As the lid of the steel box slammed over him, he knew that this wait was going to be a bit longer than the others.

Sari locked the safety deposit box with a key and smiled. The key in her hand suddenly burst into flames and then melted as she handed the box to Optimus. The low tech means of keeping Soundwave contained had been chosen because he could hack most forms of computer technology. It was hoped that the thickness of the old box could deter his escape.

"I think that'll keep him off our backs for a while." Sari said triumphantly.

"Hopefully, maybe this time he won't manage to slip away." Bulkhead called out from next to the space bridge. Hee looked at it and then began rubbing it angrily.

"He wrecked up the bridge pretty good, not sure how long it'll take to patch up."

"Not like we're rushing to go home, take your time big B." Jazz said as he placed Laserbeaks guitar neck into a stasis cuff.

"So long as none of you damage yourselves to the point of needing a new body." Ratchet sneered as he checked over Arcee.

The team had regrouped at the top floor of Sumdac systems. Bee and Sari had restored the power and came up with Jazz and Bulkhead, stopping along the way to grab prof. Sumdac. The elder Sumdac had his arm in a sling and was currently looking over a copy of the tower's blueprints.

"Can the repairs wait until after thee tower's been repaired?" He called out over his shoulder. The Autobots all looked at him and Sumdac turned to face them.

"The structural integrity of the tower may be compromised, I cannot guarantee that too much weight wouldn't cause a structural failure."

"In other words, watch where you put your servos!" Ratchet shouted toward Bee, who looked startled.

"Hey what are you looking at me for?" He asked.

"Don't know, considering that the only bot who has a reason to come to the tower daily is you…" Ratchet trailed off and went back to work on Arcee.

"He's got you there Bee." Jazz chuckled, patting the yellow bot's back.

"I believe that's something we can change." Optimus said and looked over the team. "Events today have shown me that we still know how to work as a team, but it also shows me that there's been too many chances taken."

He glanced toward the spires of the space bridge, then at the box containing the remaining fragment of Soundwave.

"Leaving the Space Bridge unguarded almost cost us dearly, in more ways than one." He said, glancing toward prof. Sumdac.

"Let me guess OP, ya'll want a permanent guard here?" Jazz asked. He had a feeling this was coming after having been said guard the night before.

"Rotating guards..but yes." Optimus said. He looked around at their reactions. Ratchet was nodding.

"Makes sense to me, especially with the cons that we've still got running around." Jazz said.

"Cons and deranged Autobots." Bee pointed out.

"Seems like a good plan to me." Bulkhead chimed in. The other Autobots nodded in approval. Optimus nodded, thankful that they understood his decision.

"Alright we'll do this in shifts, any volunteers or do I have to pick?" He asked.

"I'd like to take a good look at the bridges system and see how long a fix will take." Bulkhead said whilst patting the tower. "I think I'll take first shift."

"Alright then, that just leaves us to get prof. Sumdac some medical care." Optimus said.

"Oh no Optimus Prime, I do not need that, I am fine." Sumdac stated as he tried to walk toward the elevator. He didn't even make it a foot before almost tumbling over. Sari dashed over and grabbed her father right before he fell.

"I think you may want at least have someone look you over." Sari suggested.

"But we have Ratchet!" Sumdac protested.

"Sorry, I don't do organic systems, I barely understand Sari's already." Ratchet responded. Sumdac lowered his head with a sigh. He knew when he'd been beaten, and this was one of those times.

"Where should we put these for now?" Jazz asked, walking over with both the box and guitars.

"There's a vault near my personal lab just put them in there, I rarely go in there anyway." Sumdac said. Sari arched an eyebrow at her father's remark.

"Daddy isn't that where you put all of your failed projects?"

"What better place to put him?" The elder Sumdac said, throwing shade at the box. Sari smiled as she couldn't deny that.

Optimus offered his hand for the Sumdac family and they climbed onto it. He nodded toward the rest of his team with a smilie. After letting Scoop, Hightower, and the "dynamic duo" get away it felt good to have Soundwave in custody.

The whole team, sans Bulkhead, walked over to the freight elevator and soon it descended from view. Bulkhead didn't take much notice as he was still looking over the space bridge controls. He pulled out Soundwave's small hacking device and peered in closely.

The moment he got close enough, a small light went off on the device. Bulkhead's optics burst open and he dropped it as a small burst of light shot out into the sky. In a panic he stomped on it as it struck the floor.

"Aw great." He grumbled. "Now I'll never know what it was."

But eventually he decided that he had more bigger concerns and set to work running diagnostics on the system once more. Soon enough the mystery of what Soundwaves hacker had done faded from his mind….

* * *

 **Out in Deep space.**

There was a war going on.

The kind of war that divided nations, brother pitted against brother, friendships shattered and bonds strained. The screams of the dying and the quiet of the dead chilled the air around the ship.

This would've been the case if the crew had actually been fighting and not playing a game. A game ludicrously called "Shoot Shoot Bang Bang."

Wing scowled, slamming his fists into his desk. He'd been stuck with Krok and his crew for months now and he was about to lose it.

Or maybe he'd already lost it the second he stepped onto the ship. Wing wasn't keeping track anymore. .

He sat in his quarters with the communications equipment, he'd been made the ship's communications officer in lieu of none of knowing how the equipment work. As such whenever they pulled into ports it was always unannounced.

This explained why the Scavengers had been shot so much.

Wing scowled as he heard a scream erupt from outside the doors. It was like this every other cycle, one minute things would be calm and the next, anarchy. He'd already been sentenced by the Autobots for chasing him to this ship.

As he tried once again to tune out the sounds of overdramatic screaming, a very short but powerful transmission flashed across his screen. Wing nearly jumped out of his seat from the shock.

He got to work as quickly as possible, trying to decipher the transmission. Unfortunately there wasn't much there, some random code, a few scattered bits of data and an energy signature. Most bots would have just ignored the transmission and moved on with their lives. Wing was not most bots and his optics widened at the signature. He pulled out his datapad and began rapidly scanning through the files.

He hadn't searched for long till he found it, and activated the file. Holding it up to the screen he peered from his datapad to the screen once more.

Wing's normally dour face began to spread into an enormous grin. His datapad contained a scan of the Allspark's energy signature, the same signal was now on the transmission from earth!

Wing stopped to collect his thoughts on this matter, he'd read in the reports that'd been "accidently leaked" about Optimus Prime's crew that the allspark had been shattered. Though they'd recovered most of said fragments to reforge it.

Most...not all.

Wing dramatically stood up and made his way to the door. He opened it up, and walked to the ship's media room.

"Krok we need to talk-"

"Get down you crazy glitch!"

Wing gasped as someone yanked his cloak, dragging him behind the almost couch like seats of said room. Wing snatched his cloak from his attacker and glared.

"Crankcase you have five seconds to explain this."

"Ruckus has gone on a rampage!" The blue and black mech with a head wound whispered. Wing stared at him blankly.

"How is this is different from his usual nightly rampages?"

"Normally he doesn't have any weapons." explained Crankcase.

Wing rolled his optics, knowing full well that when Ruckus needed a weapon, everything was a weapon. At one point he'd actually taken Krok and used him as a blunt object.

"I need to find Krok, it's a rather important manner that I must speak with him."

Instead of offering any warnings, or worse advice, Crankcase instead pointed out where a small collection of berths and seats had been set up. Wing stared at it and then looked at Crankcase.

"It's the "build a fort and hide" version of "Shoot Shoot Bang Bang." he said proudly. "I've been planning my assault on Krok's fortress for ten minutes now."

"Right…" Wing said drly. He began to walk away from Crankcase, only for him to shout out,

"Wing, if you can please tell me of any weaknesses in his fort!" Wing decided not to and made his way over to the diminutive Krok's "fort" He walked towards what he assumed was the entrance and gave a firm, knock.

"Krok it's Wing, we need to have a talk." He said.

"Oh so now you've turned against me as well Wing?" Krok snapped. Wing's face fell into a flat expression and he groaned.

"I'm taking no part in this rubbish game, I need to talk with you about matters of great urgency." A sigh came from the "fort", and then the place where Wing knocked opened up. Krok stuck his upper body out and whipped his head around.

"Talk fast, before Ruckus shows up!" He whispered.

"I have discovered evidence that Allspark fragments remain undetected on the planet Earth, if we were to find them we could return them to Cybertron and be heros!"

Krok stared at Wing and fo0r a moment Wing thought he was considering it. The he burst out laughing.

"Wingy, Wingy, Wingy"

"Must I remind you to stop calling me that?"

"Do you really think that the Autobot government will care that we bring it back, we are former Decepticons they'll just arrest us and we'll be accused of stealing said "fragments"

"Then we don't give them back, they'll give us power instead!" Wing proclaimed, trying to get Krok on his side.

"You're selling something...but I'm not buying it."

WIng's face fell once again, his hand slid over his face with a growl. He didn't want to go to this level but he felt that it was a must.

"We can sell the fragments to the highest bidder and make shiploads of cash."

It was at that point "fort Krok chose to explode apart. Krok stood tall and proudly declared the words Wing wanted to hear to everyone within audio range.

"Gentlebots, Femme, and whatever the heck Ruckus is, we're going to Earth!"

As the last words escaped his mouth, a trio of blasts came out of nowhere and shot Krok through the wall behind him. Wing blinked and turned in the direction the shots came from, his optics narrowed in annoyance as Ruckus walked in.

The teal, purple and green bot was slim and tall, but that didn't stop his anger from making him stronger then most. It also allowed him to carry twin blasters and carry reserve ammo held within twin ammo belts.

"HA! I have defeated Krok, now I AM THE MASTER COMMANDER!" He boomed out. "All of you shall now KNEEL before your new-"

"SPINSTER!"

Ruckus's dramatic speech was cut short as the ship's "medical officer" bounded from the shadows. She struck Ruckus in the side of the head, crashing him into the wall. Thankfully for all involved the action knocked Ruckus out cold.

Wing could only stare at this display of violence against fellow cybertronians before he turned and walked off. He'd begun his next move and needed to go and think of some plans. While staying as far away from the others as possible as far as he was concerned today's interactions were enough to last him for a very long time.

* * *

 **What did you think this was going to be, a filler Episode? Oh no this has some far reaching consequences. As fun as this was, writing the bits with the Scavengers was my favorite and I hope you enjoyed it too. We WILL be seeing more of them in the future.**

 **Anyway guys if you even bother to read this, please drop some reviews, Fav's and watches are appreciated but reviews mean the world to me. Thanks and see you next time!**


End file.
